Electric Vehicles to Make Up 18% of Total Car Sales in 2025, 3x more than Just Five Years Ago

Once the most promising trends in the car industry, electric vehicles are now facing significant challenges, public backlash, and rising skepticism. This has triggered a significant demand slowdown, pushing the market far from where it was just a few years ago. But despite that, the EV market share continues to rise.

According to data presented by Stocklytics.com, the EV market share has tripled over the past five years, reaching 18% in 2025.

Market Share Triples, Despite Rising Skepticism and Challenges

The EV market has changed drastically in just a few years. After soaring by an incredible 1,600% between 2016 and 2023, global EV sales dipped by 0.8% to $762 billion in 2024. Statista market forecast shows revenue will grow by a modest 2.8% in 2025, 15-30 times less than the growth rates in 2022 and 2023. Given the mounting challenges, including high prices, charge unit issues, and Elon Musk`s controversial public image, this slowdown is hardly surprising.

Last year, around 30% of Americans considered an EV purchase, nearly 10% less than the year before. Still, this is not a universal trend. In China and Australia, EV adoption remains strong, with 45% to 65% of drivers preferring electric cars over petrol cars. Growth in these markets will help push EVs forward.

According to a Statista survey, EVs will account for 18.24% of global car sales in 2025, or 1.3% more than last year. The five-year difference is much bigger. Despite the market dip in 2024 and ongoing industry challenges, EVs have still managed to triple their market share since 2020, when they accounted for 5.9% of total sales.

Statista market projections for the following years bring more optimism. Although the annual growth rate in the EV segment will remain between 5% and 7%, their market share is expected to jump by 10% and hit 28.5% by 2029. On the other hand, all other vehicle types will see their market shares drop. By 2029, petrol cars are expected to make up 55.7% of global sales, or 11% less than this year. Hybrid cars follow with a 1.5% drop and a 9.2% market share the same year. Also, diesel cars, which now make around 6% of total sales, will see their share drop to only 4.8% in the next five years.

EVs Still Set to Become a Trillion-Dollar Industry by 2030

Despite increasing their market share, electric vehicles are also on track to reach a historic milestone. According to a Statista survey, global EV sales will continue rising by an average of $50 billion per year, reaching a jaw-dropping $990 billion by 2029. Moreover, with this pace of growth, EVs will become a trillion-dollar industry by the end of the decade.

Unit sales are expected to climb nearly 30% in this period, with annual EV sales forecasted to hit 17.6 million by 2029, or four million more than this year.